And now, for the conclusion of my Scarowinds trip report. In case you missed it, here’s Part 1 including a makeup demonstration and a trip through Carowinds’ longest maze, Cornstalkers and here’s Part 2 including a tour of park’s best haunt Asylum and an inside look at Intimidator.

Scarowinds Opens

Next, we were escorted to the front where guests were being held before the official opening of Scarowinds. Already the group was being welcomed by the creatures of the night. They stood out in different ways and people that noticed them steered clear. Some of these key members of the Scare Force dominated the guests with their sheer size like the Clock Maker whose transformation we saw earlier. Others weren’t so large, they were just super creepy.

These kinds of events are really my thing, but as an outside observer it was cool to see the interaction between the actors (I’m pretty sure there were humans under the makeup and costumes) and the scared, but excited guests. I think my hard, theme park journalist vibe was keeping them at bay. Or they just had much more fun targets to go after all around. Then, the Overlord, stepped up to a stage with a podium. He looked down at us and addressed us with a foreboding speech as a dozen or so of his minions stood below. And then, Scarowinds was officially open.

A Night Ride on Nighthawk

Unfortunately, this is about where the trip report takes a negative turn. As the guests and monsters dispersed running off into the night, I decided I had some time before the Eternal Jamnation show at the Carowinds Theater. I don’t have too many rides on the park’s Vekoma flying coaster Nighthawk as the line’s usually really long. After some indecision, I finally decided to give it a go. It was a lot less enjoyable than I remember. I thought that the night might add an interesting wrinkle to the ride as night rides generally do. But, I think that the lack of vision made it seem like a I was in dark simulator or something just getting tossed around as there was very little perspective as to where I was or what I was flying over.

I grabbed my stuff from the bins and exited the station with just enough time to head to the show. When I did my standard pocket patting check I came up short. I must’ve forgotten to leave my phone in the queue. It was likely thrown from the ride landing in one of the grassy areas or it was submerged in one of the two lagoons.

How’s that for a veteran making a rookie mistake? Obviously, it was completely my fault and an inanimate object didn’t actually take my phone. Anyway, I tried to spot it from the pathways and I even caught up with the people who had placed their stuff on top of mine just in case they had mistakenly grabbed it. I’d missed the meeting time for the show and knew that my wife couldn’t get a hold of me so I called it a night and headed home. At least I wasn’t on the other side of the country like when I got mugged by Scream! at Magic Mountain.

UPDATE – Someone actually turned in my phone and I picked it up from Lost and Found a few days ago. Shockingly it had survived the fall from Nighthawk with hardly a scratch. Anyway, let that be a lesson to you. Loose articles = Bad | Nighthawk (at night) = Bad

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Thanks to the Coaster Crew for inviting me out for their event. It was really cool to see Scarowinds from a different perspective. They often have trips like this along the East Coast, especially in the Mid Atlantic. “Verbolting Through the Snow” is an upcoming Busch Gardens Williamsburg Christmas Town event. More details here.

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What’s your take? Did you go to a haunt event this year? How was your experience?